Chapter 2
Struck In Daylight
"Chirp, chirp…"
His fingers slowly trickled along the fuzzy, pudgy body of the little red-breasted robin and the bird noised trustingly, snapping its tiny beak at the five tips that were nearing its vicinity, never suspecting that any harm would be inflicted upon its small form. The creature of flight squeaked shrilly when a palm delicately wrapped around its feathery body, not yet informed of malicious intent, but then the hold tightened suddenly so it began twitching in discomfort, squawking loudly at being squeezed. Pressure closed in from all sides as the captor's grip grew smaller with rigid purpose, slicing off free space at the desire of ending a life, making it obviously uncomfortable and equally difficult for the robin to inhale the necessary oxygen into its small lungs. As precious time ticked by, its resistance died from being so easily overpowered as one last shrill peep was uttered, then the bird's diminutive black eyes painfully widened a bit before shrinking back into bleak dots and it went limp all of a suddenly.
The little animal's killer expressed no remorse or sympathy for the life that was just stolen and the only emotion he allowed to show was the motion of his lips curving into a wicked smile as he continued squeezing relentless until a soft crack noised in the air. It informed him that he had broke the robin's weak, puny neck and he released a slight chuckle as his palm opened, carelessly allowing the bird to drop down to the ground with a barely audible plop, never to flap its wings and fly freely again. Dry leaves crunched as the figure left the sinful scene behind and made his way out of the area, delving into a clearing as slit-thin eyes intently watched the new victim that he would soon be toying with, barely containing eagerness. How unfortunate that he was forbidden from inflicting fatal harm upon her being, for a torturous scenario crossed his mind that he was more than willing to try out on her, far worse than the one that he just forced upon the innocent creature of the sky.
Mmm, my prey looks to be out of her cage… I must bring her in and show the girl her place.
*****
Hmm, maybe I should take the shortcut to school… don't wanna be late and miss the bus…
Clutching her bag straps tightly in her palms, the lithe teenager leaped over a line of bushes that grew along the right of the sidewalk and landed upon dry dirt ground, almost skidding from her haste to reach the destination lingering in mind. She ducked underneath a thick brown branch that curved around head level and eagerly slipped into the forestry area, wanting to accomplish her task as soon as possible; glancing off in the distance, she could catch a glimpse of the beige-colored building of her school. Grinning at her settled decision, the perky girl began making her way through the woods, brief streaks of sunlight peeking through the cluster to shine on her form, never thinking for a minute that she was in any danger as she had used this path before. Many trees inhabited her surroundings, topped with lush emerald leaves that hid small creatures and animals from being seen, as well as other furtive beings that happened to be lying around, hidden from the female youth's vision though she was not looking anyway.
A creak noised from somewhere far off to her side, but she did not seem to notice and merely leaped over a small running creek, giggling softly when the heel of her shoe splashing in the water as it accidentally grazed the edge on her descent. A stealthy shadow slipped through the thick, twisted branches above the girl's position, listless eyes glaring down at her, almost in anger from her blissfully oblivious state that served as protection, and kept on watching her. Weakly hanging leaves shook in the swaying motion as he moved along, following his prey carefully, and eventually several stems broke loose, entangling with others of its kind on its way drifting down to the dirt floor, disturbing the former tranquility. Still, the brunette walked along her path, humming softly under her breath, helplessly unaware of the presence of dark twin orbs burning holes into her back and the danger that was hovering nearby, ready to steal her away given the opportunity.
"Uriko Nonomura…"
Her sensitive ears prickled as they detected the whispered words and the youth paused, looking about the place, wondering in the back of her mind if she had just been hearing nonsense since no one met her curious, wandering gaze. When nothing but silence greeted her curious senses, she shrugged and continued on, smiling softly as a little squirrel scampered across the ground in front of her and then darted up a trunk on the other side, hiding from an enemy that was not there. She giggled to herself at the adoring sight, and when a rustling noise ensued shortly after, she peered overhead to watch a flock of robins fly out of the leaves of the tree nearby her position, all seeming to escape from the same entity as the other tan-furred creature. Shaking her head in slight amusement at their spontaneous flight, the teenager gazed in the direction of her school and resumed her walking again, thinking it a bit strange that the animals were acting this way but presumed that it was from enjoying the pleasant weather.
The silent observer drew thin lips back in an annoyed scowl at being ignored and lean fingers gripped a small throwing object, lightly running the tips over the sharp endpoints, wishing that they were currently embedded into the soft skin of a certain individual. The jubilant female was truly starting to grind agitation into cool emotion and it fueled the fury and desire to grab her by the throat, watch the dreaded and icy realization sink into her eyes and dim her smile when she saw the reaper come to claim her soul. The hand palming the deadly star trembled in the apprehension of being able to inflict intense pain on the girl, but the echoing of strict orders forbade the action, and although an inner battle ensued, loyalty won out in the end and no physical attack occurred. She had to be preserved in excellent condition as the brilliant scientist asked of, to start with a clean slate before she would be prodded and poked at, serving the purpose of a guinea pig for the rest of her days, or at least until she was fully used up in the end.
"I am coming to get you, Uriko Nonomura…"
She instantly stopped upon absorbing that, brows creasing in a frown as she slowly looked around, chocolate brown irises scanning every inch of the environment, hoping to detect another person as slight fear began to prick at her former elated attitude. Utter tranquility met the sixteen-year-old during and after the time she took to peer about the place and she released a light growl of annoyance at her own mind playing tricks on her, and raised her free hand to smack her forehead in light reprimanding. Brushing her large bangs away from her eyes, she sighed shrilly and glanced at the surrounding lush forest, wanting to find something that would hopefully and effectively distract her throughout the rest of the journey to school. Trying to nonchalantly shrug off the incident, she started singing softly to herself in an attempt to block out any further whispered proclamations that her ears might pick up in the near future, inwardly wishing that the previous words had just been figments of her active imagination.
The air of nervousness that suddenly flitted about the girl was a pleasuring sight to behold, feeding power to one's sadistic nature; her pace had quickened and she began to glance around more often, presumably in hopes of discovering the source of the whispered malice. The skin of her knuckles was paler, almost white as she held onto her bag strap tightly; trying to draw empty comfort from an inanimate object even though it could not offer her true protection or serve as a guard should she get in trouble. Her sneaker merely cracked a nimble branch underneath its sole and she jumped slightly, immediately throwing her gaze to look down at where the noise came from, which caused a partial smirk to dance invisibly in the chilling atmosphere. She elicited a small sigh of relief when she realized the source was small, nothing that could do her any harm and that action caused a chuckle of amusement to ghost by the trees, while the leaves over her head rustled in quiet laughter.
"Do not ignore me, Uriko Nonomura… You just might hurt my feelings…"
She refused to acknowledge and take the new muttered threat seriously, lifting her chin as she kept walking down the path that would lead out of the forestry area and to her school, suspicious and anxious that there was indeed a dangerous entity lurking about. A noisy rustle from behind caught her attention and she instinctively whirled around to confront the source, blinking in surprise when only the sight of dry brown leaves fluttering to the ground greeted her view, which of course did nothing to ease her paranoia. The auburn-haired girl tilted her head slightly to one side in curiosity and crossed her arms as she baffled over the situation, tapping her elbow with her fingertips, truly wondering if she was going insane or there really was someone out to get her. Moments of silence reigned before she sought to initiate movement again, this time vowing to step far slower and lighter to try and detect a presence around her, and the second that she started to turn away, a loud crunch alerted her waiting ears.
A sly figure disappeared into the shrouded safety of the tree's large and winding branches just as the youth jerked her head up and yanked her chin in the direction of the noise, unfortunately mere seconds too late from spying the vanished foe. Her lips pursed together in an unwilling show of discomfort, unease lacing her expression as she reluctantly pivoted around to keep strolling down her original path, the muscles in her body tense and rigid this time in frightened anticipation. A sudden burst of bird squawks that noised nearby her position made the female student flinch and she pumped her legs, starting to run from the enigma clouding her mind, preventing her clear train of thought or grasping onto simple reason. Sunlight shone before her, its essence teasing her by being so far away; she needed to cross over quite a bit of distance that seemed to stretch more than miles from her current location and only then would she be able to make her escape out of the woods.
"You are not going anywhere, Uriko Nonomura."
A metallic object shot through the air at blinding speed after those words disappeared and thanks to her fast reflexes, the teenager was thankfully able to duck at the last second, barely missing the thrown item as it kept flying until it became embedded into a tree's yielding trunk. She quickly arose from her crouched position and spun back to glare at a still setting, her grip on the bag straps tightening as she struggled to keep the thin sheet of fear hidden underneath her emotions, realizing somehow that she needed to keep her cool in a potentially dangerous situation. Furtively dwelling somewhere in the hidden forest around her was a person that intended to harm her; the whispers had not been a figment of her imagination, as she had first assumed, so that meant the girl had to be more careful and tread softly. The knowledge shook her slightly, as the concept of being in such a predicament had been a mere fading memory since her last battle years ago, but still, she was not about to let a random manipulator try to install fear into her or use that moment of weakness to strike. "…Who's there?! Come out!"
"Do you want to know where I am, little girl?" The taunting invitation flirted with the flowing breeze, danger-laced words enticing her to play a game that could possibly end up hurting her fatally, though she honestly had no doubt that the owner intended on harming her regardless of her actions. "Then seek my presence, unless you would rather stand there and cower in fear."
Another noise emitted from behind her; she pivoted to glare in that direction to try and hopefully identify the previous speaker this time, but once again, she found nothing to soothe her burning curiosity and growing fear as to who was currently provoking her. The stubborn girl covered the latter emotion up with tense anger and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists while narrowed dark-shaded eyes danced around the clearing, searching for other inhabitants as she boldly declared, "I'm not afraid of you, whoever you are! Grrrr, I'm warning you, come out and show yourself right now…! I know how to fight…"
"…I know how to kill efficiently… and I would be more than happy to give you a demonstration." The threat was muttered with such malice that the teenager could not fight back a tremor that shook her body – it sounded frightening close and had too much intensity to be considered empty words, but she bravely albeit foolishly stood her ground. All of a sudden, she felt a passing wind ghosting by the side of her face at an undetectable speed, hardness briefly brushing against her stiffened body and tickling her ear as she could only whip her head to detect the other bystander in the area. Her eyes caught a blur breezing down the dirt pathway before her and the girl immediately gripped her bag tighter, and then pumped her legs to chase after this provocative stranger, faintly glad that her invisible nightmare was finally in her sight. She spied the dark attire cloaking identity of the walking enigma and released a little sigh of relief when she saw that the person was around her height, though the agility being exhibited was almost faster than her own, and the competition made her a bit uneasy.
At least it's not someone that towers over me like Gado… she griped silently, remembering the last time that a remark was made about how much of an advantage she had in battle with someone that towered over her as the lion zoanthrope did. Due to her shorter stature, it had indeed been easier for her to dodge some of his higher-aimed attacks, but she had to muster up other skills than that to defeat him, since he obviously had not arisen to his veteran fighter position by being idle. And after all, if a fighter that was as tall as her presented inflicting difficulties that were more severe than her older compatriot did, then height would not make a flit of a difference; in fact, that factor could just be advantageous to whichever side chose to use it. Steadily training her eyes on the mysterious figure as they both ran together, one following the other in a seemingly-endless chase, she voiced softly, placing just a sliver of barely-detectable strength into her question, "Who are you…?"
A sudden burst of lush green leaves exploded from what appeared to be nowhere in the middle of the air, flirting with the flowing wind to drift over near the female youth's face, making her flinch even though they were puny and could do no harm to her person. She lurched back reflexively, yanking her fist up to position it in front of her chest as protection, angling her legs so that she could prepare to spring in attack if needed, though no attack came and she was left standing there looking like a paranoid person. A sinister, barely audible chuckle dimmed the environment with its overwhelming pessimism and the dark gray clouds above in the sky began to gather together ominously, destroying the holiness of the sunlight that had streaked through the woods before. As the girl fought back the urge to shiver, she turned to glance at the other bystander just mere feet away from her current location, intending to forcefully find out the identity if necessary, and noticed in surprise that she was now looking at a turning side.
"You resist. Hmm, I am admittedly rather pleased with this obvious false and empty confidence. I was sure you would be whimpering and cowering in fear by now… but it seems as though perhaps I had misconceived you, little girl." Even though she could not tell everything just by gazing at a side profile, the low, forceful tone sounded masculine to her and that assumption was confirmed when shady eyes flickered briefly at her, then bored into her brown orbs with underlying power. Despite the fact that she had managed to correctly guess her pursuer's gender, the shadows that he hid in concealed his identity well and she could barely even make out his attire, although that was hardly an important issue in her mind at the current time. Sensing her hesitation and observation of his person, he released a chilling bark of a laugh; "I must thank you, for you are providing me with the entertaining task of shattering your spirit; I absolutely adore breaking my victims. It makes the game more interesting, do you not agree?"
Sheesh…! Who does this guy think he is…? The brunette cast him a weary look, undaunted by his blatant proclamations and wondered for a second if he could be related to the terrorist group, as that would be a plausible reason why she was being hassled on an ordinary day. She knew that many of the angry members desperately desired retaliating at the resistant zoanthropes, resenting them for not accepting their terms on ridding humans, close-minded to other options such as peace and coexistence. But she had hardly ever gone out with Alice and the others on their missions since her elder sister feared for the younger's safety, and constantly forbade her to follow, so it was strange that the teenage sibling would even be targeted when her face was usually hidden. The youth grudgingly obeyed her sole guardian, although she was unsatisfied that she had to be protected as if she were a helpless child, when in fact she could take care of herself perfectly well; she had learned how to fight when she was fourteen, after all.
Perhaps now was a time she could prove that she did not require assistance to solve her problems and could handle dangerous situations such as the present one solo, though never did the foolish side of it occur to her reasonable side. Raising her chin proudly, the girl took a step forward and released a shrill breath, feeling a little miffed when the unknown male before her chuckled in mockery of her bravado, detecting and absorbing her fear with experienced ease. He jerked his head to the side, looking away from her, in which she took as an insult, but then he clenched a fist and shot it out into the daylight as an acceptance to her unspoken challenge, more than eager to engage in battle with his prey. His arm was bare, lean nakedness out to be eye candy for any curious observer's eyes, deceptively-cut biceps strong from previous training, but his hand was covered with a glove and over that was laced with a silvery armor of some type.
Hrmp, I can take him down! "All right, you creep," she declared boldly, throwing her backpack on the floor and taking a fighting stance, "I don't know who you are, but if you're with that pervert Busuzima and his stupid ZLF group, I'm gonna kick sorry your butt for my sister's and everyone else's sake!"
A scowl tumbled out from his lips, the first sign of raw, earnest emotion that he allowed to be exposed as he promised with startling confidence in his tone, "You are no match for my level of skill. You will lose, pathetic amateur."
"…Amateur…" The taunt triggered a fire of familiarity inside the girl but she merely scrunched her face into a mean expression, and then waved her opponent over in invitation with a few crooks of her fingers, never liking to initiate a battle with the first move. A slight nod was all she caught, and he then executed quick movement, disappearing before her eyes, which caused her to blink in confusion and step back cautiously, wondering who possessed such an advanced and cunning ability. A shrill trail of smoke remained in the air where he had vanished and more leaves miraculously materialized in his previous location, whispering to the ground to taunt her of his sudden absence, provoking her with the knowledge that she could be seen and not vice versa. She immediately fell into a defensive crouch, head twirling around to gaze all over the place just in case a surprise attack was to strike out of nowhere, trusting her intuition that the adversary had not left, merely hid to wait for her guard to drop.
"Let us not waste precious time getting to know one another…"
Strong fingers suddenly encircled the back of her neck, bruising her tender skin with gruff treatment, and she tried to gasp in instinctive response, but that outburst was quickly choked off before it could even hope to be emitted. Her eyes bulged and grunts of effort growled deep in her throat as the girl raised a leg and stretched it high up to kick behind her, sneaker sole successfully meeting a yielding body part to assist in freeing her from such a vile entrapment. The grip was loosened and she vigorously fought her way out of the imprisonment, attempting to quickly dart away, but then her braid was grabbed and pulled backwards, yanked so ruthlessly that it made tears prick at her eyes in pain. A scream gargled in her mouth, wanting release but unable to achieve that due to the barrage; as anger inflamed in her, she lashed out a cruelly poised hand and unexpectedly felt clothing material bite underneath her nails… claws?
A quick glance down at her other hand brought her to the conclusion that she had partially morphed unconsciously, and the young zoanthrope smiled grimly, then swirled around in a circle with her arms outstretched, pointy tips ready to punish. Viciously clawing him on his bared arm, he fired a condemning curse at her and his fingers around her long hair loosened, relief flowing into her as his submission also allowed her to execute her next move. She jumped up a bit and kicked out both of her legs, thankfully catching her opponent in the chest, increasing a couple feet's distance between them as he unwillingly tumbled back, though still in a standing position and able to quickly recover. The youth pivoted to face the opposite direction and notice what other elements of the woods she could use to her advantage, but a whooshing sound caught her attention, distracting her from the original intention of finding assistance from nature.
"Surprise." Before she could even turn around to lay eyes on the speaker, infliction shocked the back of her head, causing the girl to fall forward and barely prevent herself from stumbling down to the ground. She grimaced and her lips quivered at the intensity of the ache searing down her spine while a loud cry exploded out of her when a stiff presence struck her neck, the impact almost forcing her to stumble to her knees from such force. Blinking lights flashed before her view, clearly suggesting her damaged current state and she attempted to shake them away, but that resulted in a burst of pain throbbing in her temples, making her senses more severely wounded. Willing the claws to retract back into her fingertips, she hurriedly raised her arms up to cover the vulnerable areas on the backside of her upper body, trying to anticipate the next attack even though she was utterly in the dark.
But only one spot was her attacker's intended mark; his thumb shot over to press upon the area on her neck, increasing pressure until her eyes bulged in surprise, and a clenching sensation strangled her throat from within her own body. The girl felt her consciousness waver quite noticeably and refusing to submit, she furiously kicked at the presence behind her, ignoring the dizziness that swam before her view, shaking her head to clear the daze, though she still had been impacted by the blow. A breeze flew by her side, and within seconds another blow caught her square over her right temple, causing the young student to stumble, collapsing against a tree that covered her with its towering shadow as her hands clutched at the bark to cling on. A piece of cloth tingling with an alluring sweet smell clamped over her nose and mouth suddenly, preventing her from breathing any oxygen without first being filtered by the toxin that she presumed had the purpose of downing her person.
"Mmph!" She resisted, trying to hold her breath long enough to escape as she frantically struggled to rip away the offending material glued to the lower portion of her face, but a warm length pressed against her body, denying her escape. Heat pounded down on her neck at the closeness of the other person to her position and the pressure was slowly becoming overwhelming; the poisonous aroma seeped inside her when she could not bear to deprive her lungs of air any longer. Her head swam as her eyes blinked with false lethargy, her vision wavering, and she had to fight to focus on the blur that she presumed was a figure, stepping before her view, though she could no longer hope to use sight to identify. Mocking laughter rang in her ears when she felt herself unwillingly drifting away into a molding blanket of bleakness, eager to trap her inside and make her submit to internal torture that she inwardly vowed to fight against until her last breath.
"The stubborn never learn." He remarked resolutely, gazing down at the unconscious prize that he had trapped as he spoke, the limp form starting to slide off to the side of the tree trunk as her hands lost their former reserve and the cling dissolved. His hold tightened to prevent her from moving any more and he slipped his arms underneath her back and the insteps of her knees, picking her lightweight body up in one fell swoop as a grave, yet a triumphant smirk danced over his expression. She did not even stir and sadistic pleasure overwhelmed him when he noticed the paleness painting her face, as if even her very skin was frightened of what he was going to do with her though she was unconscious and could not think of her own will at that present moment. Once his captive awoke, however, the time for amusement would begin, as he was sure to enjoy manipulating and toying with her mind until she begged him for death herself – and watch her collapse in despair when she realized that he could not grant her that wish.
A shame that he had to do away with a creature that exhibited rather lovely and remarkably innocent attributes, but absolutely nothing was worth disobeying his master's orders, and he intended to follow though with his assignment completely.
